Why Creating Holistic Health Goals Is The Best Way Live A Healthy Life

Now, I'm not in the business of telling people what to do. I think that stems from being a little rebel myself.

So, when I say holistic health goals are the way to go just hear me out.

I was recently watching a video by a mental health professional and she said something that really hit this point home for me. Now I'm not interested in sharing her thoughts or my thoughts on the COV situation but I liked this one thing she said.

"Not getting COVID isn't health."

Simply never getting sick isn't the definition of health. Health is your body's ability to get sick and fight it off.

Your immune system must work. It's like a muscle. You need to use it or you lose it.

You need a strong system.

You get a strong system not just from one solution.

A lot of people in the health industry have just one thing.

If they're a personal trainer they often talk about fitness as if it's the golden ticket, which makes people believe that they can exercise and eat all the crappy food they want and drink tons of alcohol and that makes them healthy.

They go to the gym 5-6 days a week and that makes them healthy.

But your ability to lift a weight in the gym isn't health. Your body's ability to perform physically demanding tasks without getting hurt is part of health. But having a strong body requires more than just going to the gym.

Nutritionists think that food is the key.

Have you ever heard "abs are made in the kitchen"?

Sure, but if you only eat healthy and don't exercise I think you'd have a hard time getting abs. It's not about simply eating food and expecting abs to just show up it's about having a healthy and happy gut. Gut health affects both physical health and mental health.

Mindfulness, meditation and mental health experts might tell you that mindset is key to everything.

And while I wholeheartedly agree with the importance of mindfulness and meditation, mindfulness practices don't ensure you are physically fit.

Do you see where I'm going with this?

While all of these activities are extremely important there is not one that you could do alone that could replace a combination of activities, in my opinion.

When you take a holistic approach to health you cover the full spectrum of health. Each domain works with the other domains.

For instance, we obviously know that food and exercise work together but other areas support each other as well.

For instance, many people use exercise to support their mental health (like myself). When I exercise my mood and mental health increase, when my mental health and mood are elevated I am more likely to eat healthy (also increasing my mental health; The Mind-Gut Theory), perform better at work and want to participate in activities such as reading and doing puzzles that support my intellectual health. When I perform better at work my stress levels decrease and so on.

Now, I know this can feel like a lot. If you have one goal in every domain that is definitely a lot of goals.

When I think about the domains I think of goals in two categories; achievement goals and habit goals.

I also don't make a goal for every domain all the time.

So, achievement goals are when you work towards something and there is a clear ending. That could be an income goal or finishing a specific book or getting a certification in something. You might not gain every day but there is a clear finish line.

A habit goal is something you work at consistently every day. It could be drinking 10 glasses of water each day, meditating each day or reading 10 minutes every day.

There is no clear finish line it's just something you do every day.

Each month, quarter or year I might switch up what I'm working on or what I'm monitoring. For instance, I might track how many days I get out for a walk for a while but once it becomes engrained I might not actively be tracking it so it's not necessarily a goal I'm working towards anymore.

My suggestion to you. First, learn more about holistic health and why it's so important. Second, try adding a few in different domains of health and then add more as you're able to manage or you master some.

Make it work for your schedule. It doesn't have to be an entire eating change or getting 2 hours in the gym 6 days a week. It could be taking 5 minutes to do a quick meditation or breathing exercise.

Don't overwhelm yourself. Go at a consistent and manageable pace.

You'll get there!

Ready to learn more about holistic health goals and start working towards mastering them in a loving and supportive atmosphere? The Thrive For Life Mastermind waitlist is officially open and I have saved you a spot! To learn more about the program click here!